The Max Headroom Incident: Who Did it and Why?

Mystery Interruption
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[@igitaq]

Kevin and Danny are secretly trying to see who can write the longest intro in order to decide who gets first pick of the basement mushrooms.

[@ThatWriterKevin]

There is no way I could ever out-intro Danny

[@connorbosley4431]

@@ThatWriterKevin hey Kevin, how would one go about becoming a writer for Simon?

[@clairekortbawi5659]

There should be an intro so relevant to the topic that when it's finally over there's only a page of bland, superficial coverage of the actual main topic, but Simon won't know that it's all the intro until the very end when it says something like, "Now we get to the reason we're here today..." Silence. Cue WTF moment.

[@NimhLabs]

@@connorbosley4431 I suspect it involves getting locked in the Blazement

[@NimhLabs]

@@ThatWriterKevin don't worry... part of the stipulations should involve Simon actually reading the full intro on the show, and not just skipping ahead to the next header--or just cutting off recording after a certain amount of times Yes, Danny is trying to get around this by simply no longer including headers... but I suspect this is going to result in Simon applying a small measured amount of "discipline" to Danny

[@RGC-gn2nm]

I was in the Army at the time. Rumor was it had been a technician from the Navy base just north of Chicago. At the time Cold War era necessities' required every broadcast station in the US allow national emergency broadcasts. The Technician(s) being teenagers working mostly unsupervised had plenty of time to get bored. Hence the crude humor, halfway decent set design and the Annie Oakley character. Not long after these incidents occurred base broadcast towers, EBS tone keys and installation studios were placed much higher on physical security checklists DOD wide. The Navy/DOD of course never ever made any official or public statements.

[@St.Linguini_of_Pesto]

@RGC2005 damned whippersnappers. Up until last year, we [my husband, our eldest son & myself] had lived next to the community pool & a high school, with football field & track field. Apparently, someone was pretty lax with the keys to one of the buildings where the announcements were "broadcast" from. And late at night, when some pimple-faced ne'er-do-well would gain access to the microphones, speakers, volume knobs, etc. and just make loud and/or rude noises.. at 2-3 a.m... with no consequences at all. In a snobby, suburb. On a weeknight. Totally cool on the weekend, and if they had played music [any music would be better than garbled trash talk] it would've been absolutely okay, imho. People seem to not know how to pull a prank anymore. This prank doesn't seem so bad, tbh.. although it's a bit idiotic to pull a prank involving something at a federal level [communication airwaves _do_ operate under the ever "watchful" eyes of our governments]. Almost a death wish, really.

[@RGC-gn2nm]

@@St.Linguini_of_Pesto Back then the internet did not exist so the answer for a trouble maker was to ship them to another base. Once I got into doing physical security inspections the lack of knowledge and concern for the older analog communications equipment always shocked me. There are locked doors on every military installation nobody has a key for or knows you does.

[@JensAndree]

@@RGC-gn2nm Internet is way older than that, but the public didn't really know it existed (apart from uni students) prior to -95 or thereabouts when the web was the first reason why anyone public would ever find a use for it?! (most people today still thinks that the "internet" is just www...) Arpanet was born in 1969 which spawned the first edition of internet. (a bit later the US military had their own net called milnet, much later connected to internet. White Sands had really poor security back in the days... Just saying... hehehehe! ) Prior to 1982 you used v.24/x.25 until TCP/IP became the new standard to communicate via internet. Those were the days when I used a 300 baud modem to (not exactly legally) connect to the internet via a hacked modem in callback mode (to make it free - for me that is ;) ) to gain access to the internet from my bedroom as a teenager, hacking away through the night... Those were the days! Decades before spam and crap was invented! Anyhow, just an anecdote from an early user of internet years before the Max Headroom incident happened! ;) Your army story sounds like the most plausible I've heard so far since it happened, unless inside shenanigans! I hope they come forward one day just to set the record straight, but on the other hand that would kill the legend...

[@melissawickersham9912]

The actual culprit is more likely to be a former employee of WGN with an ax to grind against that network. Or it could have been one of the local hackers in the Phone Phreak culture of hacking with some expertise in broadcast tech.

[@willgallatin2802]

I was at Benning at the time. Yea talk about an instant shift at our broadcast site! For a while there only 4 people were even allowed near the studio. It took about 6 months to calm down a bit. Even then one had to sign in to use the ham radio gear at the site.

[@salty6pence672]

I saw the Max Headroom incident live as I was a huge Dr.Who fan. I even recorded it. The ART BELL SHOW was broadcast on many different AM stations. They all received a sat signal from Art bells property in Pahrump Nevada.

[@salty6pence672]

The theory is Exactly what Simon said. Ch11 received their signal from a local source. The theory is that they overpowered the transmission to Ch11's receiver. It could have been done from the right office window with a dish made from a metal saucer sled.

[@cyrilio]

If you still have the recording. Please upload it!

[@MAGGOT_VOMIT]

@@salty6pence672 Exactly right. Our rural neighborhood was getting severe interruptions by two different unlicensed HAM operators (one in the 70's and another one in the 80's) with a hotfoot that would loudly step all over channel WFMY 2's audio transmission.

[@MAGGOT_VOMIT]

Love your ADE avatar!! I've always been a TYO fan from back in the mid 80's. RIP Rick Mayall

[@ThatWriterKevin]

Do you still have the recoding, and is it better audio quality than what's available online?

[@madjoe8622]

ah Max Headroom, what a throwback. I remember arguing with people that he wasn't CGI. Even at that time, I knew it wasn't possible to get that kind of render.

[@jamesoverholt878]

Wrestling, real. Max Headroom, real. Reagan, probably a corpse run by Disney animatronics.

[@davidelliott5843]

It was done with jump edits.

[@Frankie5Angels150]

@@jamesoverholt878 A corpse who caused the Berlin Wall to be taken down and the Soviet Union to collapse. We could use a corpse like that, rather than the one that falls up stairs and off of bicycles.

[@jamesoverholt878]

@@Frankie5Angels150 Reagan was not president when either of those things happened. Chernobyl broke the USSR Reagan was just an old racist who sold arms to terrorists it's probably a good thing his brain was gone by the 2nd term so he didn't do more damage

[@St.Linguini_of_Pesto]

Matt Frewer is one of my favorite thespians.. he pops up in surprising series and/or films, still.

[@joseybryant7577]

Max Headroom is such a misunderstood parody character. He deserves a rebound. Now more than ever.

[@DrNothing23]

An Orange, plastic guy with really weird blonde hair constantly rambling and blipping incoderantly on a television? I think that's already been rebooted...

[@shaneschluter9648]

@@DrNothing23 Biden sure has gone shit ass crazy

[@megancrager4397]

No. Remakes ruin everything.

[@hollymartens8059]

He was vacuous and annoying in the late 80's, now, he would be just one fucking thing too much. We just can't handle a Max Headroom AND the Kardashians. Let that irritating twat rest.

[@ancientbuilds3764]

@@DrNothing23 rofl

[@cynthiasimpson931]

I'm a night owl. It's nice because the phone isn't ringing (mostly) and my husband goes to bed early because he gets up early for work. When I was still working I was the one who always volunteered for off shifts, so I could sleep as late as I wanted and no one thought it was odd, especially my mother.

[@MsEsquire83]

I just want to show my appreciation for the subtle Max Headroom editing on this video 😉

[@dcsteve7869]

Man I miss that time. I suppose the other thing that was unique about Max Headroom, it was created on a home computer specifically an Amiga. Technology may be far more advanced today but the 80s felt so cutting edge.

[@St.Linguini_of_Pesto]

"Technology may be far more advanced today".. true, true.. but what about us idiots glued to tiny glass screens, eagerly awaiting a magical tone to inform us that we, each of us, are "real" & "significant"?

[@doclewis8927]

As a Gen Xer, I can honestly say I've never heard of OK soda so I grabbed this for everyone, including myself: **OK Soda is a discontinued soft drink created by The Coca-Cola Company in 1993 that courted the American Generation X demographic with unusual advertising tactics, including neo-noir design, chain letters and deliberately negative publicity.**

[@mirandagoldstine8548]

Oh…I should have heard about it because it was around when I was a kid (90s kid) yet I have never heard of it.

[@Nathaniel_McVie]

I've only heard about it because Simon did a video on it and other similar products on another channel (might have been Brain Blaze or Top Tenz)

[@PinkyJujubean]

I remember that. It was around for about 2 minutes or so. Don't think I ever tried it

[@PinkyJujubean]

They had quite a lot of that in the 90s, come to think of it. There was Josta, Chaos Iced Tea, Fruitopia, and a bunch of other stuff that didn't last long. Trying to be all hip for the youngsters. I spent the 90s working in a store and I have a great memory lol

[@johns9652]

@@PinkyJujubean I remember a soda called "Surge" it was a citrus soda, so competed with Sprite and Mountain Dew. Back in the late 90s, the commercials would feature a bunch of skater punk looking guys, all jumping over couches and other obstacles to get to the bottle of soda. I think it was advertised as having EXTRA carbs, and might have been the first beverage touted as an energy drink.

[@CrudzMcKenzie]

I was like 7 years old living in northwest Indiana when this happened and I saw the WTTW incident. I remember watching Doctor Who with my uncle and being super freaked out by the interruption. My uncle made me leave the room when it got too weird. lol

[@benjamin3290]

The Region!

[@That_1_Chiq]

Oh shit! Man, I bet that’s a trip to think back on now!

[@rustyshackleford5269]

Represent the 219!

[@hifijohn]

Yep me too, I use to watch wttw all the time and remember seeing this.

[@SamuelLove]

Same. Still the weirdest thing I’ve seen on tv

[@garyoa1]

Ah, old Max. Back in the day when they actually played music on MTV.

[@darthXreven]

Max: MTV is neither music or TV! Me: thank you for that stunning report.....

[@garyoa1]

@@darthXreven Yeah, kinda odd that they called it Music TV.

[@darthXreven]

@@garyoa1 it used to be wall to wall music, now it's just Shit TV lolz

[@firstmkb]

The problem with playing music was determining viewership for ratings, and ultimately commercial rates. AC Nielsen had people manually record what shows they watched at a specific time, but it didn’t fit a music variety format.

[@TheSpritz0]

That’s Ridiculousness 😇

[@williammatthews693]

To be honest, the Max Headroom incident makes a helluva lot more sense than most things seen on TV today.

[@playdohmasochist]

for reels

[@MAGGOT_VOMIT]

The biggest tragedy was Hollywood allowing Jim Carrey to steal Matt Frewer's "Max Headroom" and "Crazy Guy" personas and then threatened to blacklist Matt if he spoke up.

[@GrievousReborn]

@@MAGGOT_VOMIT what the fuck does this have to do with this comment at all

[@jamesoverholt878]

OK boomer. Sorry, I had to say it. It's the law

[@okboomahfromblackrod2939]

@@jamesoverholt878 "You rang"

[@alethealenning3809]

I remember this from my childhood. I was about five or six. My mother was watching Doctor Who but had gotten up to do something. Upon returning she was upset and asked me why I changed the channel. I hadn’t. I was so confused. I was I trouble for something but didn’t know why for many many years later. My mom never became upset with me prior to this incident but clearly she loved Doctor Who more.

[@tenacious3911]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say "disgruntled former technician who was fired and wanted revenge".

[@eadweard.]

Would he have had access though?

[@tenacious3911]

@@eadweard. If he had the right sort of equipment he could have hijacked the microwave feed from the studio to the transmitter by transmitting his own microwave feed from a location closer to the transmitter than the studio overpowering the legal feed.

[@sherylcascadden4988]

With the right equipment this sounds probable. pirate radio stations are a thing, and intercepting/interrupting a signal takes more expertise and preparation, but a former employee is just the kind of person to have both.

[@ThatWriterKevin]

@@sherylcascadden4988 Radio is also much easier to hijack than television

[@tenacious3911]

​@@sherylcascadden4988 Other incidents like this have happened, just in a less sophisticated way. In the 1970s a prankster hijacked an ITN news broadcast by overpowering the off-air signal the Hannington transmitter rebroadcast on a different channel, allowing them to make a fake alien broadcast, although that was only the audio channel, not the video channel. Whoever the Max Headroom prankster was, he definitely had technical qualifications and was able to use professional equipment.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

6:40 - Chapter 1 - Who is Max Headroom 9:35 - Chapter 2 - The incidents 13:10 - Chapter 3 - What do we know ? 16:10 - Wrap up

[@parkerottoackley6325]

Thank you Sir

[@nugboy420]

And nothing pre 6:40 lmao

[@donkahl63]

I wish I found this comment 9:34 ago.

[@vladt7150]

Honestly, with all that mentioning of Aliens and Probing in the preamble, I thought this was going to turn into an episode on the "Southern Television Broadcast Interruption" (aka the "Ashtar Galactic Command Incident") of 1977 - another infamous and unsolved broadcast interruption/signal hi-jacking.. honestly, you could have done both interruptions in the same episode, given the similar time frame and how both stories have such little investigative meat on the bone 😅

[@generatoralignmentdevalue]

Thumbs up because I've never heard of this thing.

[@roetheboat1]

Whoooooahoho. That is a crazy amount of Theosophy, and I'm genuinely surprised that I haven't heard of this before now.

[@comettamer]

Oh man, that one was even wilder.

[@felicitybywater8012]

"This was such a strange story." Tell me about it. I was in my teens & it was a massive event. And then nothing. Just nothing. Until 10 or so years later when there was short program about how absolutely no evidence or motive had come to light. "Strange" doesn't do it justice.

[@toreadoress]

I mean it's not as strange as a lot of other mysteries that are really weird as to what happened and how. This was pretty much a broadcast hijacking prank. The only mystery is who was behind it and obviously this isn't one of the things that someone will willing to come out and say (and prove) "yeah we did it" because I'm pretty sure there will be legal consequences even decades later. It's kind of like that TV head guy that was dropping old TVs on people's porches, the point was that it happened and will be remembered, not as much as who was behind it. Another possible outcome (even tho it's probably less likely) is like the technicians said that it's almost guaranteed that it was an inside job because at that time you need all that equipment and technical skills that can be done only inside the station and if the TV station did internal investigation they may have found who is behind it but didn't want to release the information because it would make the station look bad so they made them sign NDC document and if they ever released the information they will be sued.

[@jonahgadoury6421]

I've been a pirate radio creator, with all the equipment and locations being needed to broadcast at such a level, Television is the toughest, we've looked into it... this was "some bored technicians" or actually from the station itself to gain more viewers.

[@ThatWriterKevin]

Yeah, I didn't get into technical detail, but it sounds like there's extensive evidence that it almost certainly had to be an inside job

[@generatoralignmentdevalue]

Bored technicians matches Simon's comment (which I agree with) that this seems like someone realised they could interrupt a broadcast, decided they had to do it, and then struggled to figure out what to interrupt it with.

[@darkerarts]

Yeah, the pirate is just jumping the satellite link with a stronger signal to the main TX.

[@bsadewitz]

I doubt the station itself would've filed a report with the FCC had this been an inside job. Not particularly good for business. The FCC doesn't have a sense of humor. Personally, I don't see why this would have been particularly difficult given enough money and nerve. The frequencies allocated to individual stations for these purposes might even be a matter of public record.

[@bsadewitz]

@@ThatWriterKevin I'd go with "social engineering".

[@annenelson5656]

I was 30 years old in 1987. I remember Max Headroom well. They even made a TV series based on him. It was a really big deal at the time.

[@jamesoverholt878]

Welllll, NBC tried to make the show a big deal ....not saying I didn't watch. (12 in '85)

[@vylbird8014]

It was a pretty good series too.

[@grantorino2325]

Everybody realizes (from the TV show's opening credits) that the character's name came from Edison Carter's dying memory of seeing a sign that read "MAX HEADROOM 2.3 METERS." Very few people, however, caught that "Network 23" was generously financed by a Chinese investor named "Ped Xing." (Which *can be* a proper, Chinese name, but-on American streets-can also be an acronym for "PEDESTRIAN CROSSING.")

[@69Dartman]

I remember the original movie that was made in England and then eventually NBC or whoever picked it up. The movie had a lot of rude things in it that you could do on cable and probably in England on the air but they couldn't do that in the USA so they toned it down a bit and brought some of the original actors over to the USA and ran with it. I still really liked it but it wasn't quite the same. Computers back then were mostly pretty low powered so you'd get glitches like that trying to watch videos or play games unless you had a high end pc.

[@melissawickersham9912]

@@jamesoverholt878 Max Headroom aired on Cinemax and ABC in the United States, not NBC. NBC had nothing to do with Max Headroom.

[@better.better]

Re: the Coast to Coast radio show: Art really wasn't subtle at all, in fact he was a self proclaimed skeptic, and I remember episodes where he actually kicked GUESTS off his show. George, the guy who took his place on the other hand, he took the show in the other direction, humoring everybody that was on there pretending to take them seriously no matter how ridiculous it sounded. it's possible that Art was hamming up the skepticism bit, because that actually helps the show keep some credibility. but it was really obvious that George is playing up to the conspiracy theorists and alien chasers. the last straw for me with that show was when on one episode George had on one of those "ghost whispers." I don't know if you would have seen it there but here in the US on daytime TV the guy named Jonathan Edwards had a show and he was a "ghost whisperer." people would sit in his audience and hope that he picked them and he did things in a way that made it very hard to tell how he was getting his information. the first trick is that you know anybody who's there for that is there for that BECAUSE somebody important to them had recently died. and odds are even if they hadn't there would be somebody in their life who had died at some point. the next thing that makes it work is that somebody who's there because somebody died wants to talk to that person one last time probably because they're guilty about something. so in this case the "psychic" task is to get them to lead him. this lady did the exact same thing that he did but very poorly I could hear exactly what she was doing to lead the callers into giving her answers, but George pretended to be amazed through the whole thing! it was so obvious! and that's the last time I chose to listen to Coast to Coast. Art Bell on the other hand has his voice in a video game called Prey that was actually pretty good for its time

[@therealjammit]

A syndicated show like Art Bell would have a studio that sends their program to other stations to rebroadcast. The studio can send this over the internet, a phone bank, or even send it to a satellite company to rebroadcast it and have the local radio stations use their own equipment to pick the signal up and rebroadcast it. The AM radio part isn't sent by satellite, but the show was sent via satellite.

[@claytonberg721]

I used to catch art bell from time to time. Specifically in the winter when radio signals would carry up into canada. It never really felt to me like he bought into any of it. I remember one of his callers adamantly insisting that star wars was real and that it took place in the andromeda system. Apparently it was just beamed into George Lucas's mind for him to share with all of us.

[@devikwolf]

I love how Matt Frewer reprised his Max Headroom role in "Altered Carbon"

[@eggsngritstn]

Yes, live syndicated radio programs are transmitted by satellite to the individual radio stations subscribing to the feed for AM (or FM) broadcast.

[@t-rexontherun]

Yaay!! Danny-level introductions!! Get Kevin to the Blazement!!

[@elektrosoundwave]

I remember that episode of Coast and remember when that happened. Art broadcast from his house in Pahrump Nevada. The satellite lost track of Art's house, hence the feed disruption. Now the thing about Pahrump is that it is next to Area 51, and the facility had a huge influence on Art's show. I knew that this incident would be brought up when Art was first mentioned

[@igitaq]

I had a total of 4 OK soda 12 packs before it disappeared. I remember both shows that Max had, the talk show and the sci-fi series. I was a wee child during those shows and it did seem like the future is now back then especially to my primary school brain.

[@stevehill4615]

I thought there was effectively 4 parts to the Max Headroom show, 1st the sci fi storyline of how max headroom came into being, 2nd the original music video show with only max and the music videos (IMO the best season had videos such as Paul Hardcastles "19" and Belouis Some's "Imagination" ----- banned for explicit sexual content & nudity) followed by seasons 2 & 3 where the show took a comedic talk show direction not to my taste as it felt somewhat forced and contrived also the lack and cut short music vids (i wanted something more akin to MTV party zone with funny segues than a talk show) disinterested many original fans, I've still got the max headroom book and some of season 1 on vhs tape in a cupboard which is good for a chuckle

[@ChrisArnold1975]

Weird. I got to thinking about Max Headroom this afternoon while perusing a Maximum Headroom sign. I remember when it aired as a kid.

[@gingerman5123]

4:30 I 100% remember listening to that live! The satellite lost geostationary lock with the ground.... That like never happens. Art broadcast from his home in Nevada over satellite and all the syndicated stations picked it up from satellite for rebroadcast over am/fm.

[@r66fplaysgames]

There actually have been instances of space satellites failing though.

[@gingerman5123]

@@r66fplaysgames I guess ya it does happen... But the odds of that happening at that moment in that broadcast... IIRC There were like a dozen or so broadcasts impacted.

[@Brian-bp5pe]

Well, that was fun, Simon. I was around in the '80s, but don't remember much about Max Headroom. I'm a native Chicagoan, also and don't recall anything of the hijinks over at WGN and WTTW. It must not have been much of a thing when it happened, because the whole thing came and went with barely a ripple, at the time. What I can tell you is that WGN radio had an extraordinarily powerful transmitter, but I don't know if that means anything to the TV side of things.

[@AngeliqueStP]

If Max here had a beef or a point to make, he did an asses-up job of getting that across. At least CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT did it to protest cable fees and straight out said as much. Really, this weirdo is basically just your average internet troll... before the internet.

[@systemloc]

Internet trolls get remembered, but broadcast TV trolls never die.

[@shawnhicks619]

Actually satellites were widely used for both radio and television in the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s and only saw a steep decline with the availability of broadband. Many radio stations still use head end satellite uplinks and many syndicated shows distributed via downlink to various radio stations for broadcast. It’s also known art bell broadcast from a studio in his home in Nevada and it’s likely distributed via satellite uplink considering his home was quite remote. There are a lot of reasons for a satellite signal to drop, and as you said was likely coincidence however the fact it may have been a satellite signal interruption is possible

[@MrProctorShow]

I used to listen to Art Bell. The best thing that ever happened was when he alerted his listeners to a massive geomagnetic storm in 2000 (lots of aurorae, aka Northern Lights). I ran outside around 11:00pm in Ogden, Utah and I was treated to an amazing display of aurorae--every possible color, morphing vnoticeably. I called everyone I knew and implored them to go outside and look up (most did and thanked me later). Fast-forward a few years and I was entering the planetarium industry, thanks in part to that experience.

[@NegdoshaManido]

I was listening to that show too. I ran outside my home in northern AZ and saw an amazing all red Aurora like I have never seen in my life! I woke my kids up so they could see it too. Probably a once in a lifetime occurrance this far south.

[@MrProctorShow]

@@NegdoshaManido What a night! It changed my life!

[@LordRefa]

Good call on the authenticity. Its one reason that keeps me coming back. From channel to channel

[@SamLowryDZ-015]

IIRC the theory in those days was quite simple - you didn't need a very powerful transmitter just one that could over ride the signal from the station to the transmission tower. Position yourself between the station and the tower and bounce your weak pirate signal on the same freq to the relay station. All a tech needs to do is boost the station signal and it overrides the cheeky pirate. Now everything is digital such a stunt would be impossible.

[@bradleyross2274]

My thoughts were very similar. I hadn't thought of just increasing transmission power. It would be a lot quicker than changing frequencies, which was my thought.

[@WaywardVet]

That's odd. Looking back with a more modern perspective, my inclination is to look more into the woman. Any sort of workplace harassment complaint against that sportscaster that was swept under the rug? I think I'd start there for lack of leads. That could explain the graphic display and the call out.

[@Bacopa68]

Excellent point!🏆

[@mikegLXIVMM]

I used to listen to Art Bell's show in the early morning as I drove 1 1/2 hours to work every morning. Great show, good Times!

[@lesliekilgore648]

always a fun time with you BB/SWverse guys. ;) thanks for the flashback to my childhood in the 80's! now, i gotta go find the Max Headroom TV series online and see if anybody has uploaded it to the grey web. :D i haven't watched that show in years. :D

[@kmlammto]

Larry King’s long running radio program was a lot like the Coast to Coast show. He sounded like he was encouraging the people with his words, but sounded very skeptical in his tone of voice.

[@jgray7440]

Fantastic! One of the greatest broadcast mysteries of all time!

[@joshfinder7863]

shaye it isnt so

[@drebk]

Thumbs up for coast to coast AM! Art Bell and George Noory knocked it out of the park during my days of delivery newspapers in university

[@cotati76]

Most tv and radio stations back then transmitted a weaker signal to a main antenna that amplifies and broadcasts the signal. If you could get between the signal from the station and the main broadcast antenna you could interrupt the signal if you had a strong enough transmitter to overpower the station signal. Now those connections are all encrypted so it’s basically impossible to do now from outside the station. They caught people interrupting stations who did it exactly the way I described.

[@MCC4RTHY1]

Lovecoast to coast💕 I lived in Chicago around this broadcast. It’s cool people still talk about it

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

Of course Simon you know who is Max Headroom is an older Ai that you replaced few years ago , you can't fool me! YOU CAN'T FOOL ME!!!!

[@kanedaku]

IIRC (I read up so much info on this online many moons ago), there is a technically possible theory that I like to believe about how they highjacked the signal without having studio quality equipment. The studio sent out a standard signal to a larger rebroadcast centre, so all the Hijackers had to do was get a standard broadcast that was nearer to the rebroadcast mast. So during the signal interruption, the hijackers were probably very close to the telly studios. One of the things police investigated were empty warehouses near where the tv studio was, in case the first part (which is somewhat considered to have been broadcast live, unlike the pre-taped second video) was filmed there. They were hoping to find clues left behind.

[@Wiickles]

I hope someone stumbles upon the Max Headroom tape somewhere, like in a thrift store or while cleaning out an old or deceased relative's storage. It would be such a wild find.

[@danielwilliams705]

Simon. Thanks for the show. Watch all your channels. This is hands down my favorite. I'm 62 and basically grew up in the 70s and 80s. Brought back all kinds of the weird shit that was the hallmark of that time. Keep up the great work. Already subscribed to all the channel puts out. Looking forward to more great shit. 👍 😆 🤣 😂

[@JAMESWUERTELE]

Remember the noid?

[@danielwilliams705]

@@JAMESWUERTELE yeah I remember that. Thnks

[@TheGrinningViking]

You know, I just realized that federal communication commission violations have a 5 year statue of limitations. Those guys and their fly girl could confess today, write a book even, they are in the clear 👍🏼

[@jamesoverholt878]

Statues are more immobile than limited. The only limit is your imagination

[@St.Linguini_of_Pesto]

@@jamesoverholt878 LMMFAO, I was curious if anyone else caught that mistake. I believe the term you had intended is: statute. There is a third tee. @The Grinning Viking》Statues tend to not have arms.. or heads.. or clothing... just a beachtowel/curtain/bedsheet, but we know what you meant and, to my knowledge, you are 💯.

[@jamesoverholt878]

@@St.Linguini_of_Pesto I was touched by its noodly appendage

[@darthXreven]

it's statute, a statute is a law, a statue is a piece of art depicting a person or a symbol of some kind that reflects a culture, city, organization etc just saying 5 years huh? so if one is good they can hijack a signal and do something random as a prank never do it again, sit for 5 years write a book and get rick off the royalties?? I wish I knew this sooner... my wasted life!

[@TheGrinningViking]

@@darthXreven Ah! Swipe text got me again. It's as bad as the old auto-correct used to be, back in the day. At least its not saying fuck when I want to talk about ducks anymore. lol

[@nerdgirl7363]

An intro that's a third of the video, really Dannying it up today

[@ajlukelepuke]

The Coast to Coast AM incident talked about at the beginning was on the last track of Tool's Lateralus album.....

[@phineas117]

At 9:14 p.m. Sunday, November 22, 1987, Dan Roan’s sports report re-cap of the Chicago Bears Sunday game disappeared from people’s television sets. before going to Chicago, Dan was sportscaster in downstate Illinois.

[@WarpRadio]

although I didn't do it (and I do NOt know, personally, who did it), I DO know a lot on how it was done and from where it was done... you would be surprised! where? 3300 N. Campbell how? VCR on a timer in a locked room, feeding a 10 watt microwave uplink transmitter connected to a Yagi on a tower, directly-inline from the studios at 54th St Louis to the JHC, using pairs of wires feeding across the facility to another room which was accessible to the outside. Who? a collection of Hams (not the Doctor!) I have discovered the "evidence" being the fly swatter, some hooks and cables and corrugated roof shingle when I opened a long-forgotten locked cabinet well over a year after the incident. I did find other items, but now I can't recall what they were and I did NOt find any dildos or the actual tape. unfortunately, I can not reveal much more as then you could track-down / learn who I am!

[@dariusmoore7123]

Your top ten broadcast interruptions was my first fact boy video. I've been hooked ever since

[@missandi1971]

I witnessed it! I was watching Doctor Who on a Sunday night as usual and it was creepy as hell!

[@seanski707]

Simon talks about how he couldn’t record an unauthentic video about ghosts…one day after releasing a toptenz about celebrity ghosts. Allegedly

[@82spiders]

The first Maxx Headroom was the product of a cameraman at WCIU TV in Chicago. WCIU shared a studio with our PBS station, WTTW. Pretty soon the mask was all over different faces. I know James was involved. He wouldn't care if this info got out, but there was another person who obviously thinks it does matter.

[@keithweiss7899]

I was listening when the Art Bell incident happened. The thing is, his show was made in the “high desert” and uplinked to satellites. Local a.m. radio stations, who were subscribed to his show, could downlink it from the satellite and then broadcast it from their local broadcast band stations. So if the uplink was interrupted, all stations lost the signal. Many things could be done to interrupt that uplink. Art Bell was an amateur radio operator (ham operator) and understood radio technology quite well.

[@jamespettit1792]

Yup Art Bell broadcast from a nowhere place kinda SW of Las Vegas.

[@stevenpeek8842]

What a great Memory Lane episode! Having lots of late-night drives back in the day, I well remember Coast To Coast. It was the only thing on at stupid-thirty in the morning! And I LOVED the Max Headroom television show!

[@ToreHansen]

Max worked in one of the Art of Noise music videos at the time. Cool video!

[@aquaDo156]

I was born in 88 and didn't know Max until 2005 when an article brought it up. Yea the 80s was wild but always curious how life was back then if I was an adult.

[@deviricx983]

I love how an ad for Gaia TV popped up with a guy talking about lizard people. Instantly heard Simon in my head saying that it’s nonsense.

[@deathtripper7788]

I loved OK Soda. I’m still bummed out that it didn’t take off.

[@darkstorm08]

Ohh I'm never first... Hi Simon Kevin and the meme'r if they are there this go round.. Have a blessed day

[@ThatWriterKevin]

You too!

[@stevewindsor3858]

Kevin, one page intro, you're getting there. Let's get one and a quarter now.

[@ThatWriterKevin]

Ironically, Cicada 3301 had the longest intro at like a page and a third, but the episode was so long no one even noticed

[@Lazy-Monkey]

What I remember the most about OK cola were the radio ads. Like one where someone claimed OK cola made him a SUPERHERO!

[@rainbowtheythemshe1115]

This is exactly what you're doing with this show tough, aren't you? And it's working because we're watching despite you being an obvious condescending skeptic... Or because of 👻

[@opraiderman904]

Coast2Coast AM is the pinnacle of late night radio.

[@DougieFresh765]

I grew up in Northwest Indiana (the region) and watched Chicago local TV growing up.... always heard the story of these LEGENDS that hacked a broadcast

[@Zelmel]

What I actually learned from this is apparently everyone at the station at that point hated Chuck Swirsky.

[@tomdriscoll7830]

Would love to hear one of these about The Monster with 21 Faces!

[@secretsquirrel1534]

I remember listening to the coast-to-coast radio show. And I totally remember when Max first came on the Air !!!

[@mechtheist]

FYI--satellites were used to distribute radio shows to various markets [areas] for broadcast over their local radio stations, TV is/was distributed the same way, that's what satellite dishes receive, usually there were two nearly identical sets for splitting the time zones.

[@jonathanlapham2374]

I lived in the Chicago area and remember both of these incidents, especially the WTTW (PBS) interruption as I watched Dr. Who every week.

[@dacritter8397]

Coast to Coast was fantastic for driving the night shift. One of my favorites was the Reverse Speech guy. Some of those were very entertaining.

[@miketheyunggod2534]

It was a Sunday night because it came on while I was watching Dr. Who. That show was on PBS Sunday nights during that time.

[@mollympls]

so, i also listened to that art bell episode live. it wasn't a satellite, it was art bell's radio thingy - like, what he used to broadcast to the radio waves. so not a satellite but like a radio broadcaster antenna. it lost power. art lived in the desert outside pahrump, nevada, and i think he ran his equipment off a generator so it was just a mechanical error. this happened in the late 90s, before satellite radio even existed. also, i remember ok soda, it was just ok (haha) but had interesting can designs.

[@r66fplaysgames]

They actually did have satellite radio transmissions (Not Sirius XM Satellite Radio though.), back then. His show was broadcast, via C-Band satellite (Those are the big huge dishes that are usually seen outside of TV & radio station studios.), to AM radio stations that carried his show.

[@ThatWriterKevin]

Someone in the comments explained it better than I will, but he had the setup you said which broadcast to a satellite which was picked up by other radio stations for AM and FM rebroadcast/syndication.

[@fallingdream]

now follow up with a video about OK soda for everyone who watched this one and went what the hell is that, and include a max headroom incident reference so people anyone watching that one first comes back to watch this one

[@mirandagoldstine8548]

Yeah I’m from America and I have no clue about OK soda.

[@laurenmp7486]

I remember this! And as a Chicagoan, it was on the news for days. It didn't help when no one with any possible motive could be found, indeed any motive beyond just screwing around ever stuck.

[@melodie-allynbenezra8956]

At 2:22 - Re: Art Bell - You have to realize that Coast to Coast was midnight to 2am EST. As such, most people listening were extremely tired, extremely wacky, or extremely ready to be amused by something as they listened to something to keep them up (like truckers on an overnight haul). So... The folks Art Bell made fun of were either too crazy or too tired to figure out what was going on.

[@JK-gm6kk]

Should have just played the video. It used to freak me out, but now I love it sooo much

[@espo7182]

Honestly to me the bigger unsolved mystery part of this, is why have they not released their identity by now, if still alive. I don't understand why whoever was behind this would not want to come forward by now. At this point, so far removed from the incident, I highly doubt that they would face any legal problems. I mean, honestly, most people would view them as almost like heroes. Getting away with one of the biggest unsolved mysteries ever, and now years later finally coming clean? Instant celebrity status and viewed as Genius. Therefore even if anyone wanted to go after them for legal or civil charges, those people would be looked upon terribly by the public. Especially since whoever did this, if still alive, is well into their 50s at the least, if not 60-70, making them now Sr citizens.

[@bobcastro9386]

Unless they have already died and taken their secret to the grave.

[@broccanmacronain457]

I had never heard of this before. I was probably underwater on Westpac at the time. But I remember the Max Headroom series and loved it. We could definitely use a return of Max Headroom!

[@robbpowell194]

Chuck Swirsky had a popular stint as a sports guy in Toronto. What is hilarious is that they could not have picked a more apolitical sports geek. You would have to know the guy to know how funny that reference was.

[@BaronVonScout]

I remember OK soda, I really liked it. There were a lot of rumors going around that the reason it never tasted the same twice is because they were just using up their leftover syrups 😂 They also had a hotline that you could call and either listen to a story about how everything is going to be okay, or you can leave your own story about how everything is going to be okay. It was both super 90s and super hipster 😂

[@WillWilsonII]

Hahahaha people speculated at school that it was a graveyard (mix of all sodas). Which actually prompted someone to order a graveyard when I was working the drive thru at Taco Bell. It was about as busy as it could possibly be too. No button on the register for it.

[@NothingIsKnown00]

Max Headroom apparently inspired the evil AI Shodan from System Shock.

[@matthewkruse5536]

OK Soda was great! Tastes like when you mix all of the sodas from the fountain together.

[@markgrudzinski914]

My dad and I were watching WGN when Max broke into the sports report. We were amused and confused.

[@Strike_Raid]

Wow, I had never even heard of the Max Headroom Incident before and just happened to watch this video since I wondered what it was all about. But once they mentioned WGN and the Clutch Cargo song, I now know I know who did it (or at least, who was behind it, he may not have actually done it himself), and why! And no, I’m not going to say who it is since there would be no way to prove it at all and the guy is still alive.

[@MultiSycorax]

What a strange, neat incident.

[@johnmichaelrichards]

Many AM, FM and DAB radio broadcasts were commonly relayed via satellites to reach a wider geographic audience and to subsequently permit radio broadcasts to be received on cable, satellite and terrestrial TV systems,

[@DanielaMaria1998]

Hey the editing is getting really creative! I appreciate it

[@kylestevens5835]

Hey maybe you can help me!!! My grandfather was a big band drummer in the 40’s and 50’s he played with the Dorsey brothers and dizzy Gillespie but back then they didn’t list all the musicians that played on the album and I would love to hear his drumming do you know of a way to find out who played on what album back then maybe by chance??! Couldn’t hurt to ask!

[@hueyhueyhueyhuey]

try discogs

[@justaguy2365]

This guy is part of my early childhood memories. Bizarre stuff

[@jarnoldp]

My father used to listen to Art bell. It’s one of the fond memories I have sitting listening with him. I’m a physicist, and he was an electrical engineer. But he was curious.

[@larryfine6865]

Loved Art Bell. I got his humor😆

[@skinwalker3953]

We are owls of the night - always have been - and there have been all kinds of attempts to "fix" it.

[@danieljob3184]

Amplitude modulation is not very long range. It requires signal boosting repeater towers to broadcast over any decent sized area. It is possible that these towers are what they mean when they say Satellite.

[@baronet68]

Loved OK Soda! It was sickeningly sweet and reminiscent of what you get when you fill you cup with a little bit of every flavor in the food court soda dispenser. Marketing and packaging really took mediocrity to a whole new level.

[@mrdddeeezzzweldor5039]

I was interesting, entertaining and a bit quirky but then again we get to hear juicy details about our favorite KZbin commentator!

[@IdinDunifin]

I was 10, living in Chicago at the time and sadly was in bed when the 2nd broadcast was aired. The next day however was a big deal of FOMO for my friends and I. Kicking ourselves for not being able to witness it.

[@blu12gaming44]

It's nice to study at night because things are more quiet/peaceful than during the day. As a night owl I object to the H#tler reference 'O ye mercenary day walker.